reunion

Its great to see friends again, to hear what's been happening and what are the projects for the future. Specially when the opportunity to meet in person is rare and not so easy because of the obvious distance.
It is when I see my friends I realize how much I miss them. I suppose it must be a defence mechanism, otherwise if I felt that so strongly everyday I wouldn't be able to be so far away!
And what about the feelings regarding coming back home, to my Country? They are mainly of sadness and disappointment... Of bewildering incredulity with what everyday one sees on the road, on the street, in the shops, well everywhere really.
My Country, the one I left, was a place of nice and helpful people, polite and interested, respectful of themselves and others. Somehow I find that to be kind of lost, specially in younger people, like my own generation. It was called "Geracao rasca" and it is living up to expectations!!
In Germany I find people rude and impolite because they are arrogant. Here it seems it is all related to selfishness. Maybe my generation spent far too long at the parents house before "flying from the nest" on their own and that has created a mass of people that have only rights and no duties.
Plus everyone seems to be living in mass hysteria, overwhelmed with crap Reality TV programs, dramas/soaps of poor quality where everyone shouts and fights all the time and News bulletins that are worthy only of a bad End-of-The-World movie!!!
There is very little laughter and there is a lot of long faces, even though the sun shines, flooding dark rooms and moods with light and there are mini-summers every three weeks!
Why is everyone so sad?? Oh, wait, its the "Crise". There is a crises on in Portugal, you know? Very bad, this is very bad... Is it? Sorry, I find that hard to believe!! I do not tend to base my opinions on nothing, or on rumours, or on hear-say, and specially not on the stupid/deceiving stuff that comes out of the 8 O'clock News. To have an informed opinion I try my best to read as much as possible about macro economy issues from sources like the Economist, I read and look from the outside in and that gives a sense of perspective that those inside cannot have. Well, they could if they stopped being lazy and went to http://www.economist.com/! It is 1 option there are many more and hurray for the internet to allow us to have access to education and personal improvement at a click of a finger! Amazing how so much is so wasted on the Human race!!
Anyway, I diverge! A few examples that have, literally, shocked me this year!

1 - A visit to an amateur ( and I stress, amateur ) biathlon competion revealed the level of gear and above all, bicycles, is much, MUCH higher then what you see, say, in Belgium. There were many bicycles above 2000 euros and in general more than 500 Euros in gear alone. OK, good for them, but where is the crisis?!

2 - On driving in Portugal,once again, it is obvious people have too much money to burn, because the way they drive is definitely not economic!! I find that fuel should be 10 times more expensive. I know, I know, its polemic, but think about it, how many lives would be saved, specially of motorcyclists, if the general public was forced to drive to save fuel, because at the moment what I see is Euro notes coming out of the exhaust pipe and ripped to pieces by the tyres... While they are forced out of driving, it will be safe to cross a pedestrian crossing without fearing for our lives, the environment will be cleaner and maybe, just maybe, they will learn ( finally!!) that, in traffic, it is about progression, not top speed!

3 - The price of houses is a good measure of how healthy a Country is, and judging by that Portugal is one of the best in Europe! I found that a flat in Ericeira is more expensive then my old flat in Sunningdale!! Well, I am the greatest fan of Ericeira, but this is not London and even more ridiculous, Sunningdale is one of the most expensive Real Estate in Britain!! So, there you have it, maybe the Queen is living somewhere in the Ribeira D'Ilhas! Surfing!!

4 - The cars!! My God the cars!! I am, by now, pretty blaze when it comes to cars, seeing that I live in the Mecca of petrol heads, the Nurburgring. On any given day I can see 5 different Porsche Carrera GTs, an average 15 or so Porsche GT3RS, a couple of Aston Martins and lots of Ferraris. And there its ok to see them, it makes sense. What is not so easy to understand is to find so many (and all new) luxury cars in such a "poor" Country. You could say its a sign of how Third World Portugal's economy has become, but that is not true either, because, according to European results for the sale of cars for 2010,all cars, Portugal is on the top, together with others, apparently not so poor!

5 - Going back to the bicycles, I found out this weekend that the Rolls Royce of bicycles, the Titanium-framed Seven, has two big markets, one is Germany and the other Portugal!! Yes, a 5000 Euro frame, followed by all the other goodies to make it into a 8000 Euro bike, is a high seller here, not in the UK, or Belgium, or France! We are, actually, competing with GERMANY!!!!

Ok, I could go on and no, I haven't forgotten about homeless numbers, asylum seekers and Welfare Support, I have also read about those and the proportion of those in the Society is not more then in the UK or France.

What I think is people are unhappy because they are told everyday by the TV things are bad and they believe it. Stop listening to that, stop being negative, respect each other more and enjoy the great Country Portugal can be!!
It can only be great if each and everyone of us makes our little bit great, say good morning to everyone you meet on the street, be nice to the shop keeper even if they are not, improve our manners and slowly, in every area of Society, things will change. But DO NOT expect a "Sao Sebastiao" to come and save the Country, it depends only on us all!